PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ METACOGNITIVE SCIENCE LEARNING ORIENTATIONS AND THEIR USE OF LEARNING STRATEGIES: ARE THEY RELATED?

1Harran University (TURKEY) 2Middle East Technical University (TURKEY)

Metacognition is crucial for the highest level of learning outcomes and enhanced by developing the ability to examine one’s own knowledge and control of own cognitive system. Related literature indicated that there was a relationship between students’ use of learning strategies and metacognition and the use of deep level of learning strategies might bring meaningful learning. There is an agreement that metacognition plays an essential role in student learning. However, this importance is not reflected well enough on teacher education yet. There is a need for studies on teacher metacognition and learning. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among pre-service elementary science teachers’ metacognitive science learning orientations and their use of learning strategies. The participants of this study consisted of 224 pre-service science teachers (171 females, 42 males and 11 non-respondents) from public universities in Turkey. Two instruments were used in this study: the Self-Efficacy and Metacognition Learning Inventory—Science (SEMLI-S, Thomas, Anderson, & Nashon, 2008 and adapted into Turkish by Gokalp and Kirbulut, 2013) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ, developed by Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991 and adapted into Turkish by Sungur, 2004). The MSLQ is a seven-point rating scale ranging from 1 (not at all true of me) to 7 (very true of me). In this study learning strategies section with rehearsal (4 items), elaboration (6 items), organization (4 items), and metacognitive self-regulation (12 items) sub factors was used. The SEMLI-S included 19 items in a 6-point Likert-type scale with four sub-factors: constructivist connectivity (4 items); monitoring, evaluation and planning (5 items); science learning self-efficacy (5 items); learning risks awareness (5 items). Canonical correlation analysis was performed using metacognitive science learning orientation variables (constructivist connectivity; monitoring, evaluation and planning; science learning self-efficacy; learning risks awareness) and learning strategies variables (rehearsal; elaboration; organization; metacognitive self-regulation). The analysis yielded four pairs of canonical variates with squared canonical correlations of .67, .20, .11, and .01 for each successive variate. Only the first variate was noteworthy to report in the study. The full model was statistically significant with a Wilks’s Lambda of .53, F(16, 660.53) = 9.62. The first pair of canonical variate showed that there was a positive correlation between metacognitive science learning orientations and use of learning strategies. It was found that the full model explained 44% of the variance shared between metacognitive learning orientation variables and learning strategies variables. The results of this study indicated that since there was a positive relationship between pre-service science teachers’ metacognitive science learning orientations and their use of learning strategies it can be inferred that metacognitive science learning orientation variables can play a significant role in pre-service science teachers’ learning.